Amazon Kindle (ebook thingy)

they already have those

I'd love to have a Kindle that stored music instead of books...

TBH I wish it wasn't so expensive and it was available in Belgium. It seems awesome. I love to knit'n' read and this seems great as a replacement (for books). I can sort of read books but it's hard doing paperbacks (while knitting). Kindle seems great cause you can voice activate it (?), no?

No... :( It will read to you, but you can't control it with your voice. Although some people turn on the reading feature, but turn down the volume, and use it as an automatic page-turner. It is nice to be able to use it for reading with one hand, too.

Do they finally have a backlight on these things?

I reckon most book purchasers are too attached to the book as object for iPhone apps to ever really dent sales.

― Ronmael de Canarias (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 17:49 (9 minutes ago)

Not to continue this derailment, but I'm sure there were a lot of record store owners saying the exact same thing about 9 or 10 years ago.

(xpost)

― homage is parody gone sour (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 22 April 2009 17:51 (5 minutes ago)

Apples and oranges. Reading anything at length is significantly less pleasant on an electronic screen than a printed page. Varying technologies have been around for ages without making much of a dint in book sales. Most music listeners other than hifi guys didn't care much what format they consume their music in,

i couldn't agree more

Personally, I agree. But I don't think we can speak for everyone. I know of two friends of mine, both voracious readers, who hate the Kindle but would love something digital to take its place to allow them to haul multiple books around at all times and to reduce the amount of shelf space books take up. I think, as more people spend more time staring at screens, this might change. Do I want it to? Hell no.

I haven't seen the kindle but my dad has a handheld reader (sony maybe?) and it's pretty awesome. never wanted one until I saw it tbh.

the problem historically has been that the resolution of paper is much better than the resolution of mobile devices but that gap is closing and will continue to close.

i wouldn't trust anyone who would decide to do all their reading on one of these things

Exactly, these things are going to continue to get easier and easier on the eyes, so I think one would have to be willfully difficult to just shut down and stick to the mantra that books will always be safe.

this shit just seems a little dystopian and boring

the problem historically has been that the resolution of paper is much better than the resolution of mobile devices but that gap is closing and will continue to close.

Exactly, these things are going to continue to get easier and easier on the eyes

i really have a hard time believing this

rip ballard

xp

Am I right in thinking these kinds of thing are pretty big in Japan tho so maybe I'm being Westerncentric?

i really have a hard time believing this

yeah, so did I until I saw one. it looked like a printed page.

it's just kinda funny because i think the people who are hardcore pushing this particular technology have no real grasp about how the little random ephermal shit like books makes life often kinda great (or they don't really care.)

hmm. i've seen and played with a kindle, it doesn't look like a printed page at all.

Omar OTM, but don't some people say the same about records? The little random shit like pulling a record out of the sleeve, scanning the liner notes, etc?

yeah i guess i don't understand the need to do shit like this, i guess the thought is: "we have the technology to replicate the printed page on a computer screen," like who the fuck cares? books work pretty well.

The inconvenience of records (lack of portability for example) is much greater than the inconvenience of PB books (they get crinkly in my bag.)

yeah but music as something to listen to "on the go" changed that decades ago and records were never the ideal way in which to listen to music in that way, obviously. but books are essentially perfect as is, it's not like you're stuck only reading them in a single room.

I admit I am totally the last person to care about this though. I buy most of my books used or remaindered for like $2-5. Kindle or whatever is going to have get awfully cheap to make me even thing about picking it up.

I wasn't talking about the kindle but some other ebook reader

xp

I'm not disagreeing with you at all, I'm just trying to point out that not everyone holds the physical book as sacred as we do.

I mean can Kindle replicate the Boris Vallejo cover and musty smell of this Frederick Pohl novel I got for $1.50. I think not.

i think a lot more people hold the book sacred than ever held (or hold) a record sacred, though

which is kind of scary imo xxpost

I wasn't talking about the kindle but some other ebook reader

yeah, the sony reader, right? i mean, i'd like to look at it too and check it out but i just don't see it happening. who knows, maybe this thread will get revived in five years and we'll all have a good laugh when we read it on our personal portable reading devices instead of a computer etc etc

yeah i mean i went to a bookstore, inspired by the recent graphic design thread, and bought about 15 old penguin paperbacks for $25, all with these amazing mid-century designs on the covers. that sort of thing can't be replicated at all. and also, regarding the record comparison, records i think are going to outlast CDs and it won't even be close.

Kindle seems more like a books on tape type of thing where it'll be convenient and neat for some people, but never take hold by and large.

exactly^^^

"records i think are going to outlast CDs and it won't even be close"

I don't think either are going away, but I suspect the price of petroleum may have something to do with how this fite turns out.

i figure it's totally great for the constant traveler (who wants to travel light) or fugitive on the run, but yeah...no other reason to really own one imo.

if the Kindle was *really* going to take off, it would have already

don't think this is true at all. i love books and they'll always be around, but even though i don't want a kindle now, i can totally see getting some kind of e-reader device once they get a lot cheaper and better (which is definitely gonna happen). the more my bookshelves start to overflow the more appealing it seems.

i can see it working out in a big way for universities, given the high cost of textbooks and the slight ridiculousness of having students sell back the same books every semester.

the more my bookshelves start to overflow the more appealing it seems.

yeah i totally understand this and 5-10 years ago i would be right there with you, but i've started to donate books that i know i won't need anymore. i just don't feel the need to own every book i've ever read? and if i need to buy something again, it's easy enough to find a used copy

and as far as cost and space issues go, there are always libraries

i mean shit, all you need is an ID and you get a card and limitless endless access to an unending stream of books for free

I have 4 packed floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in my basement, and I will always love vinyl, but I also find it hard to believe that after the near-demise of the music industry as we know it people still maintain that the print industry is completely immune

These are all really good and really valid points, but I don't think the mega-serious book lovers will be the ones to decide the fate of physical books. I mean, its pretty much the 5 CD a year people that decided the fate of the music industry, right?

returning books and paying overdue fees is a hassle, though (which is why people stopped going to video rental stores the minute they had an alternative).

i'm not saying the print industry is completely immune--not by any stretch of the imagination. there needs to be a correction there, too. i think advances for novels especially are way too high, for example, and there have been some adjustments lately, which is a good sign.

returning books and paying overdue fees is a hassle, though

you really think returning *free* books to a *free* library is a hassle?

yes

I am like a 5 minute drive from my library and it takes me 30 minutes to get there cuz of traffic so I rarely go

sounds like you could walk there

it's inconvenient, i put it off or forget and then they are no longer free

then again I could get my books routed to the library that I can walk to a block away so I don't know what I'm typing about